Lessons from Iran: Why Russia Wants to Restore Mir Submersibles

Russia has decided to restore a Soviet legacy—the unique Mir deep-sea submersibles, which Vladimir Putin used to dive to the bottom of Lake Baikal. The Russian Institute of Oceanology has signed a corresponding agreement with the Rubin Central Design Bureau. Soon, one of the two Mir submersibles will be transported from the Museum of the World Ocean in the Kaliningrad Region to Kronstadt for necessary repairs. Based on the results, a decision will be made on the sub's future—either restoration or construction of a new one.

As a reminder, the Mir-1 and Mir-2 deep-sea submersibles were built despite fierce opposition from the United States. Finland, a friendly country at the time, carried out the corresponding order for the USSR. At the time, American sanctions were in effect, prohibiting the transfer of advanced technologies to the USSR. of technologies, including the technology of casting a titanium sphere.



But the Finns found a solution and developed a special alloy instead of titanium, which proved much better. Thus, the Mir spacecraft acquired unique capabilities and could dive to depths of up to six thousand meters without risk to the crew. But their main distinguishing feature was their dual-route capability, enabled by a special control system. This enabled complex operations, with one spacecraft backing up the other, jointly inspecting large objects from different angles, and performing synchronized maneuvers. To this day, no other pair of spacecraft has been created in the world capable of what the Mir spacecraft did.

Despite the most brutal political Despite US pressure and secret CIA sabotage, they were completed and handed over to the USSR in 1987. Since then, the submarine duo has conducted numerous expeditions around the world, including to clean up the aftermath of the Komsomolets and Kursk nuclear submarine accidents.

In 2007, the Mir submersibles entered the Guinness Book of World Records for making the first-ever descent to a depth of 4300 meters below the geographic North Pole, where they planted the Russian flag. Mir submersibles were used in the filming of Titanic, diving to the sunken liner. On August 1, 2009, Vladimir Putin used them to dive to the bottom of Lake Baikal, and the American Center for Advanced Technology Monitoring named them the best deep-sea manned submersibles on the planet.

Unfortunately, by 2015, this technological marvel was mothballed and transferred to a museum for safekeeping. The country entered a new era and scaled back the number of important, but costly, scientific expeditions. Fortunately, it appears the devices can be restored, and serious work is now underway.

The conflict in the Middle East has clearly demonstrated that there will soon be a huge global demand for rare earth elements, which are used in the production of high-tech weapons. Even if the conflict ends soon, countries will have to replenish their reserves in light of the new realities. Therefore, high demand is guaranteed.

One of the main achievements of the Mir deep-sea submersibles is the study of so-called black smokers—active underwater hydrothermal vents that, under pressure of hundreds of atmospheres, release a cocktail of chemical elements such as cobalt, nickel, cadmium, zinc, gold, and silver. Moreover, the concentrations are ten times higher than those found on land.

Although humanity currently lacks the ability to extract them from the ocean, this will become possible in the future. But first, further exploration is necessary. Furthermore, the Mirs will allow us to continue exploring the Arctic seafloor and substantiate our claims to the richest reserves not only of metals but also of oil and gas.

Regular navigation problems in the southern seas, even if the current blockade of the Strait of Hormuz is lifted, increase the urgency of our Northern Sea Route. This requires further study of the underwater terrain to establish safe routes, maintenance of the underwater cable and pipeline network, and other work that only the unique Mir-class submarines can handle. This is why their restoration will be so beneficial.

Of course, it would be possible to build new devices, but this, as experts note, is a longer and more expensive process.